Sukkot in Jerusalem

After a few fun filled days in Haifa we returned to Jerusalem for the beginning of Sukkot. Sukkot is a seven day holiday of rejoicing and celebration for which we are commanded to build a hut (sukkah) and make it our home. These sukkot are to remind us of the huts the Israelites lived in while journeying through the Sinai desert on their way to Israel after being freed from slavery in Egypt. In Biblical times, Sukkot was considered the most important Jewish holiday. The sukkah has to be a temporary structure and it is used mostly for eating. Since Jerusalem is a religious city there are sukkot on many balconies. The kosher restaurants and hotels also set up a sukkah so their customers can fulfill the commandment of eating in the sukkah. Above are some pictures we took of different sukkot around the city. It is amazing to see even the smallest of balconies with a sukkah on them. Enjoy!

Hanging out in Haifa

First we have to apologize for taking so long to post a blog. The only excuse that can be given is "The Chaggim" . This is a phenomenon that happens every October in Israel where everything is put on hold due to the outrageous number of holidays this month. We counted only seven days of class this month which meant that Josh had a lot of vacation to go traveling. So...after breaking the Yom Kippur fast in Jerusalem we headed off to Haifa with a few friends. One of our friends was house sitting for some family friends so we got to stay in a real house for a few days. It was definitely a great way to start vacation. We relaxed, went to the beach, hung out in the hot tub and cooked great meals. Haifa has been compared a lot to San Francisco and is sometimes called the "sister city" in Israel. One main reason for this is that it is a very hilly city just like San Francisco and you get amazing views of different points of the city and the Sea while you are driving around. The house we were staying in was at the top of the hill and so had beautiful views of the hills and sea in the distance. Along with amazing views and beaches Haifa is also home to the the beautiful Bahai gardens which are pictured below.

The Dead Sea #2

I know, I know been there, done that! Well if you could go rub mud all over yourself, float in a salt sea and mineral baths all for a low price of $10 you would do it as often as you could too. Also, this time you get to see not only Josh, but Nikky covered in beautiful black mud. The Dead Sea is such an amazing place that we actually met a man from Finland who had traveled to Israel just to spend 2 weeks at the Dead Sea. He has a rare skin disease and his doctor told him that spending two weeks at the Dead Sea would make his syptoms subside for 2-3 months. Amazing! For the two of us and our friend Jordana this was just an opportunity to get out of the city and relax for a day before all of the holidays began. There is quite a lot going on in Israel during October and this was a nice start to the month. I'm sure this will not be the last that you will see of the Dead Sea. If you're lucky maybe we'll take you there and rub mud all over you as well! :) L'Shana Tovah u'metukah! May you have a happy and sweet new year!

Hiking in the hills around Jerusalem

Sorry it has been so long since there was a posting to our blog. I know that many of you would like an update on Josh and his classes and hopefully that will come soon, but since I now have more time on my hands I thought I would atleast tell you about the hike we took in the Jerusalem hills. One of the faculty at HUC really loves to hike and so offered to take some students on hikes around the area. Seeing as we love to hike, but don't really know where to go, we jumped at the offer. So yesterday morning we woke up bright and early (which is always hard on Shabbat) and ventured out to the hills beyond Jerusalem. We started out hiking at about 9:30/10ish and didn't finish until about 4. Needless to say it was a very long day. There were definitely trail markers, but somehow we kept losing them and ended up trekking through the thorn bushes. I believe this is how we finally found our way back to the car 6 hours and 10 miles later. Ouch! Good thing Josh and I were prepared with the right hiking gear. So you're probably wondering what the scenery was like. Well one thing's for sure, it definitely isn't like hiking in California. Boy do I miss the redwoods! One thing though that does make hiking in Israel unique is all of the ruins that you find along the way. We were hiking amongst caves, fortresses and mosaics from the Ottoman empire and even during the Crusades. The picture of Josh and some friends is taken in front of a cave about 10,000 years old. The black part of the cave is from the fires people used to light for cooking and heat.